A rare Lowry exhibition will be under guard to prevent a repeat of the theft of one of his paintings from a North East museum.

A rare Lowry exhibition will be under guard to prevent a repeat of the theft of one of his paintings from a North East museum.

For the first time visitors to Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens are able to see Lowry's Travels, a unique collection of the painter's work, until October 12.

And museum bosses are determined to make every effort to secure the display.

Senior manager Helen White said: "We had a bad experience five years ago with the theft of Lowry's Young Man, which was on permanent display at the museum. Following this, of course, the museum has been completely redeveloped and, while no security system is foolproof, every effort has been taken to ensure the safe and secure display of this fantastic exhibition."

Art thieves struck in 1998, ripping the Young Man painting off the wall. They made off with the work, believed to be worth thousands of pounds, without alerting any security staff. It has never been retrieved.